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Aug. 9, 1929 – March 1, 2015

NATCHEZ — Services for James Lamar Waycaster, 85, of Natchez, who died Monday, March 1, 2015, at Natchez Community Hospital, will be at 2:30 p.m. today at First Baptist Church with the Rev. Dr. Doug Broome officiating.

Burial will follow at the Natchez City Cemetery under the direction of Laird Funeral Home.

Mr. Waycaster was born Aug. 9, 1929, in Vance, the son of Lee Roy Waycaster and Bonnie Grissom Waycaster.

He served in the Korean War with the 27th Infantry “Wolfhounds” Regiment. He also served 30 years in the Mississippi National Guard, being deployed to Fort Bragg, N.C., during the Berlin crisis.

Mr. Waycaster was also deployed to Panama with the U.S. Army Reserve during the Panama crisis. He also served as an investigator with the Mississippi General’s Consumer Protection Division and on the Mississippi Department of Transportation Appeals Board.

Mr. Waycaster was preceded in death by his parents; eight siblings; and one grandson, John Connor Waycaster.

Survivors include his wife, Mattille Shupe Waycaster; five sons, Jimmy Waycaster and wife, Kathy, of Brookhaven, Johnny Waycaster and fiancée, Shirley Gurney, and Todd Waycaster and wife, JoAnn, all of Natchez, Tim Waycaster of Ridgeland and Lance Waycaster, M.D., of Pittsboro, N.C.; one sister, Sue Waycaster Bailey of Oxford; two brothers, Charlie Lee Waycaster of Clinton, Ky., and Frank Waycaster of Batesville; 10 grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.

Pallbearers will be Wesley Waycaster, Jeffrey Waycaster, Casey Smith, Mike Chapman, Brad Jackson and Wesley Strebeck.

Honorary pallbearers will be Hayes Waycaster, Nicholas Waycaster, Michael Waycaster, Jody Smith and the Bill Rice Sunday School Class at First Baptist Church of Natchez.

In lieu of flowers, memorials contributions may be made to First Baptist Church Natchez Library Fund, 150 Devereux Dr., Natchez, MS 39120 or the Prostate Cancer Foundation, 1250 4th St., Sacramento, CA 90401.

Online condolences may be sent to lairdfh.com.